Red MP4 Player by GG Martinsen (4th gen) Review
Red MP4 Player by GG Martinsen (4th gen) Review
Buy it at Amazon: Red MP4 Player by GG Martinsen (4th gen) [Affiliate Link]
Takeaway: This unit is okay for listening to audio, but it has limited resolution, screen size and file compatibility.
This MP4 player tries to match up to the Apple iPod Mini, but fails to reach the bar. I went in with significantly lowered expectations was still disappointed in the execution of the product. While the body construction is decent with an aluminum housing and brushed finish, the screen isn't stabilized in the frame so if you press on it, it will collapse in (it's not touch sensitive either, so don't). The headphones that the unit came with are super cheap, like the free airline ones; the sound is thin, boxy and they break easily.
The instructions are confusing and aren't well written. Add that to the problem of the controls being awkward and there's a steep learning curve. The click wheel has 4 buttons with a 5th button in the center but is not touch sensitive for scrolling and the buttons unintuitively change functions depending on which screen you're on.
This player has 16GB of internal storage space so at least it can be used as a thumb drive with decent capacity. It is capable of playing music files, video files, recording and playbacking voice recordings, receiving radio broadcasts, viewing photos, reading e-books and has several preloaded games. So at first it seems to be feature-packed.
I'll start off by saying that the audio capabilities of this player are largely fine and perform as expected. I didn't have any problems listening to MP3s and the sound with a different set of headphones) was clear and enjoyable. The radio function also performed well, and it picked up many local stations with only occasional static. You can even save stations and quickly scan between them. Note that your signal quality will be limited by radio reception in your area and where your device is positioned. It would probably make a fine MP3 Player, however, it's supposed to be an MP4 Player.
For video playback, I loaded a bunch of files in various formats and compressions; I was only able to get the player to recognize AMV and AVI video files. So ironically, this MP4 player couldn't play any MP4s I loaded to it (recorded on my cell phone camera). AMV files aren't easy to find, so it may be difficult to load videos to this unit that you'll be able to play. Photos loaded fine but the contrast was too high and the colors muddled when viewing them. The screen is just too small and has too low of a resolution to see any detail.
The e-book reader is farcical in its implementation. It only reads text files (no ePUB or PDF) and the text is so large on the little screen that you can only read 20 words at a time. That just does not sound like the ideal reading experience. The five pre-loaded games don't offer any instructions and while playable, the controls were awkward to the point where the game wasn't actually fun to play.
I reviewed the black version of this product previously and found that the battery couldn't hold a charge. I didn't experience the same problem with this unit. On a full charge I was able to get about 3 hours of audio playback on it. There is a sleep timer and the unit will shutoff after 90 seconds of inactivity in order to save on battery life.
The only thing I'll probably end up using this unit for will be as a portable harddrive, radio, or backup for music/audiobooks in the car. The screen is too small for viewing photos and e-books and I wouldn't want to watch video on it, even if I could find compatible files for it. If you're using this for just its audio capabilities it'll do just fine, but as an MP4 player, it's not great.
Buy it at Amazon: Red MP4 Player by GG Martinsen (4th gen) [Affiliate Link]
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